BRADENTON, Fla. — With "cookie season" in full swing, hundreds of Girl Scouts across the Tampa Bay area are sitting outside of grocery stores making sales. However, several Bradenton-area troops say their scouts are learning much more than just money management: They're also learning about bouncing back from getting scammed.

“We are hearing reports of fake of $5 bills to $50 bills,” said Kelly McGraw, Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida director. 

Almost 50 troops have reported counterfeit bills from their booths at Walmart and Publix locations around Bradenton. 

They say it’s an act far more sour than their Lemon-Up cookies. 

“It really makes you mad, because how to you explain this to the girls?” McGraw said. 

She says the girls have now adapted and are learning how to catch a scam with counterfeit pens and different techniques to check a bill.

“First we were sad, then we were mad, now we are smart,” she explained.  

If you would like to donate to help recover some of their funds, click here for the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida website.